City of Eden Prairie, Minnesota Case Study

Challenge

The City of Eden Prairie irrigates 23 parks, sports fields, and facilities. Even though they had been using rain sensors on their systems for 10 years, water usage continued to increase. When it peaked at close to 45,000,000 gallons in 2008, they wanted to make changes in order to conserve money and save water.

“As a city that must enforce watering bans and charge extra for irrigating, we asked ourselves what we could do to lead the way in water conservation and labor savings. For the past 6 years, Baseline has provided us the conservation and labor savings results we needed.”

–Pete Hammerlind, City of Eden Prairie

Solution

In the summer of 2008, the City converted several athletic fields in Miller Park to a Baseline 3200 irrigation controller with a soil moisture sensor-based watering strategy. Groundskeepers had been watering the City properties the same way for years without seeing much variation in water use. After the Baseline systems were installed, the City saw a dramatic reduction in water use.

Since their first experience with Baseline products in 2008, the City saw a water savings of 12 million gallons. They attribute the majority of the savings to their Baseline systems. Soil Moisture Sensor-Based Watering Miller Park Fields 4-7 Park maintenance technician Pete Hammerlind estimates that city park staff reduced site visits by 50 percent due to their ability to manage the Baseline systems with central control. This increases productivity, reduces wear and tear on City vehicles, and decreases fuel consumption and emissions.